Quantifying the Impact of Hair and Skin Characteristics on Signal Quality with Practical Recommendations for Improvement.

Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS) holds transformative potential for research and clinical applications in neuroscience due to its non-invasive nature and adaptability to real-world settings. However, despite its promise, fNIRS signal quality is sensitive to individual differences in biophysical factors such as hair and skin characteristics, which can significantly impact the absorption and scattering of near-infrared light. If not properly addressed, these factors risk biasing fNIRS research by disproportionately affecting signal quality across diverse populations.

ninjaNIRS: an open hardware solution for wearable whole-head high-density functional near-infrared spectroscopy.

Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) technology has been steadily advancing since the first measurements of human brain activity over 30 years ago. Initially, efforts were focused on increasing the channel count of fNIRS systems and then to moving from sparse to high density arrays of sources and detectors, enhancing spatial resolution through overlapping measurements. Over the last ten years, there have been rapid developments in wearable fNIRS systems that place the light sources and detectors on the head as opposed to the original approach of using fiber optics to deliver the light between the hardware and the head.

Factors associated with loss to follow up after abnormal cervical cancer screening in pregnancy.

Objective: To assess risk factors associated with loss to follow up in patients referred for colposcopy after abnormal cervical cytology during pregnancy in a Southern safety net hospital population.

Methods: An urban colposcopy center was queried for patients referred for follow up of abnormal cervical cytology during pregnancy and the postpartum period. Patients were identified through a standardized referral code in the electronic medical record.

Epidemiological evidence for work load as a risk factor for osteoarthritis of the hip: a systematic review.

Objective: Osteoarthritis of the hip (OA) is a common degenerative disorder of the joint cartilage that presents a major public health problem worldwide. While intrinsic risk factors (e.g, body mass and morphology) have been identified, external risk factors are not well understood.

Meta-analyses of occupational exposure as a painter and lung and bladder cancer morbidity and mortality 1950-2008.

The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classified occupational painting as a human carcinogen based on lung and bladder cancers; however, no specific exposures were implicated. The authors conducted comprehensive meta-analyses of the epidemiological literature on occupational painting and these cancers. The authors abstracted study results and confounder information, and used quantile plots and regression models to evaluate heterogeneity and publication bias.

Identification of a novel peptidoglycan hydrolase CwlM in Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

Mycobacterium tuberculosis is a major global pathogen whose threat has increased with the emergence of multidrug-resistant strains. The cell wall of M. tuberculosis is thick, rigid, and hydrophobic, which serves to protect the organism from the environment and makes it highly impermeable to conventional antimicrobial agents.